Debris spotted on mountainside in hunt for plane missing with 11 in Indonesia

Indonesian rescue operations are searching for a passenger aircraft carrying 11 people that went missing on Saturday, January 17, in a mountainous region.

The ATR 42-500 turboprop vanished from radar around 1:30 p.m. local time near Maros in South Sulawesi province.

Indonesia Air Transport was operating the flight.

The aircraft was conducting a fisheries surveillance flight for the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.

The flight was last approaching Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar when it lost signals.

Among the 11 people on board, 8 were crew members and 3 were ministry staff.

The search operation, which includes 400 personnel, military helicopters, drones, and ground, is underway.

Factors like steep terrain and bad weather in the Bulusaraung National Park area are hampering the rescue operation.

The search operation is narrowed down to Mount Bulusaraung as hikers reported finding scattered debris, a possible airline logo, and small fires.

Andi Sultan, an official at the local rescue agency, stated: “We suspect the plane came down near the peak of Mount Bulusaraung.”

The last contact with the plane was when air traffic control instructed it to correct its approach alignment.

Unconfirmed data from Flightradar24 suggests an aircraft matching the description rapidly lost altitude over the Java Sea before disappearing from tracking systems.

Planemaker ATR stated it is aware of the incident, and its specialists are supporting the investigation.

Recently, numerous transportation incidents have reported in Indonesia, often linked to safety enforcement challenges.